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Sites to Grow
The longterm viability of the Central Florida economy will be based upon
the region’s ability to develop employment centers for future companies.
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The Volusia
County Council, the county’s highest elected body, is spearheading a
diversified, strategic initiative to identify and develop tracts of land
for industrial, business and office parks for employers of
higher-skilled/waged manufacturing and office-based technology workers. Through
partnerships with local cities and private property owners, Volusia County
Government is well along with the implementation of a program to design,
permit and construct up to 2,000 acres of fully permitted and
ready-to-build sites. These employment parks range from 15 acres to 750
acres and are strategically situated throughout the Greater Daytona
Beach/Volusia County Area which is roughly the size of Rhode Island.
The Gateway
Business Park, a 200-plus acre site at the intersection of I-95 and LPGA
Boulevard in Daytona Beach is one of the first success stories. The first
phase of this office park already has attracted the construction of nearly
100,000 square feet of Class A office space.
Daytona Beach
provided infrastructure support to one of the area’s largest land owners,
Consolidated Tomoka Land Company.
By combining
city, county and state incentives, county economic development officials
have attracted millions of dollars in new capital investment and jobs by
mitigating some of the initial infrastructure costs and by financially
supporting the hiring and training of many of the new jobs created by the
developer and the employers that are being attracted to this new premier
location. |
| Gateway Business Park – from
concept to construction to final appearance, this 50,000 square
foot cornerstone project houses the corporate offices of DuvaSawko
a national healthcare billing company that represented the first
major development in up-scale office park located at the LGPA
interchange along I-95. Gateway Business Park features the future
Class A image of the new Daytona Beach. |
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The success of
Gateway Park spawned similar public investment in Gateway Business Park
South, about 60 acres along the newly constructed Mason Avenue extension
just south of the initial Gateway Business Park at the interchange of I-95
and LPGA Boulevard.
The design of
this open campus styled business park has attracted an upscale mix of
light industrial and distribution users. More than $25 million in new
capital investment has created nearly 300,000 square feet of new
industrial space and facilities capable of supporting up to 400 new, high
quality jobs.
Gateway Park
and Gateway Business Park South will be developed in phases over the next
several years bringing new opportunities to future office technology and
high tech manufacturing employers.
In 2004,
county economic development officials also began the development of a
43-acre industrial site at the S.R. 44/I-4 interchange on the east side of
DeLand. Ideally situated between the metropolitan areas of Daytona Beach
and Orlando, multiple industrial parcels adjacent to Interstate 4 have
been developed to support high tech manufacturers seeking a strategic
central Florida location.
Called the
DeLand Crossings Industrial Park, the county’s $4-million investment has
generated more than 120,000 square feet of new construction with an
estimated value in excess of $12 million. Two automotive manufacturers
were secured before the first shovel of dirt was moved. At buildout in
2007 DeLand Crossings is anticipated to represent $30 million in private
sector investment that will provide 300 high-quality jobs to this new
Class A architecturally influenced concrete tilt wall designed industrial
center.
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| View of the
Gateway Business Park South (top) in Daytona Beach featuring a new
generation of concrete tilt wall manufacturing and distribution
facilities. Florida’s lifestyle carries over in the design of our
industrial parks.
Featured (center) is the entrance
to the 200 acre Parktowne Industrial Park located in the City of
Edgewater along I-95.
Corporate headquarters of ICI
(bottom) promoting the architectural influences of one of
Florida’s premier builders and the area’s image of growth and
prosperity. |
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Although advanced technology industrial and office parks are a key
focus of the county’s site development initiatives, other employment
centers are part of the effort to support diverse future employers.
For example,
the county is developing a 200-acre industrial park near the junction of
I-4 and I-95 just west of Daytona Beach. The Tomoka Farms Industrial Park
provides a site for future industries that require a less restrictive
operating environment but a location easily accessible to major
Interstates. Designed for companies engaged in a more intensive use of
industrial lands such as aggregate based products, waste-to-energy
projects and companies that require outdoor storage of recycled based raw
materials, the Tomoka Farms Industrial Park will be one of the few
locations remaining in central Florida that will accommodate such users.
By partnering
with Volusia cities, Volusia County economic development officials are
leveraging public investments for building industrial parks on lands owned
by the the cities themselves. More than 300 acres of industrial sites are
being designed and engineered within the cities of DeLand, Edgewater and
Ormond Beach, all conveniently located within minutes of either I-4 or
I-95.
Through
creative financing and partnering with the City of Ormond Beach,
infrastructure has been put in place to encourage the development of
Ormond Crossing Business Park, more than 750 acres of industrial, office
and commercial acreage near the U.S. 1 interchange along I-95. The park
should be able to provide up to a 15-year inventory of industrial and
office building sites. |
Volusia County
officials in the 1990s started the planning and permitting of nearly 1,800
acres of industrial, office and commercial development of a future
employment activity center along I-4 at its junction with State Road 472.
This large diversified future development encompasses parts of DeLand,
Deltona and Orange City and promises to be the focus of more than 7.4
million square feet of light industrial space.
In addition to
the focus on future high-tech manufacturing, this strategically located
employment center within 30 minutes of downtown metro Orlando also will
feature an attractive landscape for 6.8 million square feet of office and
more than 3 million square feet of new retail space in the decades ahead.
| The initial
phases of infrastructure are being designed and county and city planners
are moving forward to determine design standards to direct the growth and
development of this future employment and business center that will
support an estimated 12,000 future workers.
In Daytona
Beach, economic development and university planners are working on the
development of two corporate parks focused on information technology and
companies seeking to benefit from applied engineering, technology research
and development.
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| Sites to Grow is a feature of the
area’s economic development campaign to promote the region’s
efforts to develop several thousand acres of fully permitted
building sites for future employers seeking a competitive location
for office and manufacturing technologies. |
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The larger of
these two developments is a 150-acre, campus-styled Embry-Riddle Research
Park being spearheaded by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Designed
for aeronautical, aviation and transportation safety technologies, this
research park will offer ample opportunities for collaborative
partnerships and access to federal research and product development
initiatives.
Nearby, county
economic development officials are working with the Daytona Beach
International Airport to develop an 80-acre corporate park. Already under
design, engineering of this strategic location will be completed by 2006
with construction of the campus-styled landscape and infrastructure slated
for 2007. The park is expected to accommodate up to 1 million square feet
of high-tech office facilities.
For the past
several years, demand has outpaced the county’s ability to bring new
industrial and office park acreage on line. Demand for quality building
sites throughout the region has been high by companies seeking a
cost-effective, strategic location and a trained available workforce.
Demand is
expected to continue to grow as many of these sites become available and
as the Volusia County’s $50 million economic development initiative
continues to gain recognition for unique and innovative business
approaches to supporting future job growth for this region that has a
population of nearly 500,000.
To learn more
about the many industrial and office parks or sites available or under
development, please contact the Project Development Manager, Pedro Leon,
with the Volusia County Department of Economic Development.
Department of Economic Development
700 Catalina Drive, Suite 200,
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Telephone: 386-248-8048
FAX: 386 238-4761 Toll Free: 800-554-3801
Richard Michael
Director
doed@volusia.org |
